China is considering regulations that would force ride-booking apps such as Uber and Didi Kuaidi (滴滴快的) to use commercially registered cars and drivers, and would allow city governments to limit permits for those services, according to people familiar with the plan.
The companies would be barred from offering their services at below cost for the purpose of disrupting competitors, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the proceedings are private.
The proposed rules might be released soon for public consultation, though details could still change, they said.
Huang Xue (黃雪), a Beijing-based spokeswoman for Uber Technologies Inc, said the company does not comment on speculation. Li Min (李民), a spokesman for Didi Kuaidi, said he was unable to comment because the company has not seen any official materials on the regulations.
The proposed framework for governing car-hailing services, while giving them legitimacy, would also challenge their current business model of signing up owners of privately owned cars and matching them with riders. Vehicles that are registered for commercial use have to be scrapped after eight years, and carry higher insurance and tax rates.
The power of local authorities to limit the number of permits for vehicles driving for car-hailing apps may also cap the growth of Uber and Didi Kuaidi, both of which have raised billions of US dollars from investors by pitching rapid expansion in China. The two companies have spent heavily on subsidies for drivers and consumers in attempting to build a following.
Despite being loaded with cash and armed with plans to expand into dozens of cities, the companies continue to operate in an ill-defined area when it comes to enabling privately owned cars to provide paid transportation. That service traditionally has been confined to licensed taxis and rental companies.
The China Business Journal reported yesterday that the number of on-demand vehicles would be left to local authorities to decide.
Both Uber and Didi Kuaidi have repeatedly pledged to operate in accordance with regulations, while lobbying the government to update rules to reflect changing commuter habits.
Didi Kuaidi president Jean Liu (柳青) said this month the difficulties of commuting in Chinese cities have created a “common language” between the company and government officials, who understand that congestion reduces the efficiency and competitiveness of a city.
Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick made clear the company wants to be good partners in China by creating jobs and cooperating with the government.
He called Uber “co-architects in making cities of the future” during a speech in Beijing earlier this month.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”